How Important Is Smell to Attraction?

Olfaction is the only sense that goes straight to the cortex without having to go through something called the thalamus first. It's a very direct connection and affects us unconsciously. For example, there's studies that show if you collect sweat from people who are highly anxious, like they're about to jump out of an airplane or take a big exam versus sweat of somebody working out at the gym. When you look at what happens into their brain, when they smell the anxiety sweat, a whole network in the brain becomes activated. That's the empathy network where they feel empathy for a person.